The Dead Whale
This is a short story referring to whale meat being served in school cafeterias in Japan. Pretend the story and dialogue is in Japanese. Enjoy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daisuke poked his fork into his lunch apprehensively. He had finished off everything but the meaty substance at the center. It was the first time his school had served whale meat and it had surprised him. Daisuke had thought that the rumours about Japanese whalers were only that, rumours. But the ugly truth sat in front of him, what was left of a once noble creature that had swam the depths of the sea for many years and been where no humans had ever swam, seen things in the abyssmal depths that humans could only dream of. Akira sat down next to him. "Something wrong?" she asked. Usually Daisuke was a relatively lively person, brimming with energy, and he could barely sit down. Now he looked like he had been emotied of energy. "That used to be a whale," he finally relented. Akira nodded. "So what?" she said. Daisuke was taken aback. "So what?" he snarled, "That whale was a noble and intelligent creature! And here it is, slaughtered and dished out as food." Akira nodded. "Well, Ms. Sato says its a traditional Japanese food. People used to eat whale meat before it was banned, for centuries. I'm sort of excited about it." Daisuke was turning pale. "Its bad for you, too. Whale meat has mercury in it. Didn't you hear about Minamata? A factory spilled mercury on them in the 1950s and thousands of people were injured, killed or even crippled." Akira sighed. "They probably won't serve it again. What harm could one serving do?" Daisuke groaned. "Excuse me," he said, getting up, "I need to find somewhere else to sit." Lunch was almost over and Akira was about to start on the whale meat. Daisuke's reluctance confused her. He was a real environmentalist and a nature lover, but he just wouldn't have fun if it conflicted with his moral beliefs. She has just started cutting when she heard something. It cut through the busy cafeteria noises for a moment and the talking people got silent for a moment. There was music coming from the garden. Daisuke was out there and he had set up his iPad with an amplifier. where had he gotten that? He had his whale meat and he was burying it outside. He turned off the music for a moment. Some kids were laughing and mocking him, but Akira shushed them. Being a more popular student, people listened to her. She wanted to hear what Daisuke had to say. It seemed like everyone was listening. Finally, he spoke up. "Once, you were a mighty leviathan who plied the world's waters and you were free," he spoke, "and now you have been dealt the ultimate dishonour. You are dead and slaughtered for no reason, an innocent creature murdered for no purpose, and then your earthly remains are devoured by the ignorant masses. I pity you, noble whale. At least a part of you will rest in peace in this garden. Remember that death is not the end, merely another stage in your existence. Be free, noble creature, and swim the endless seas of the other life. Amen." A chorus of "Amen" rose up from the audience. That evening, Akira sat at home right after dinner watching anime. Silently, she slipped away into her room. The whale meat stared out at her, and she knew what she had to do. She walked up to the roof of their apartment where there was a garden and she buried the whale meat under her mother's favourite magnolia tree. She left a little wooden sign reading "A whale. RIP." Then she snuck back downstairs to finish watching the show. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am the dragonlord, I am the king, The Return Of The King 22:53, March 1, 2013 (UTC) Category:Stories Category:Death Category:Environment Category:Nature Category:Short stories Category:TheReturnOfTheKing Category:Real life Category:Life